Margaret Fratila in her business of 30 years, Margaret’s Greenhouse & European Floral Designs in Corpus Christi.
For a small business owner, keeping the lights on and the doors open for more than 30 years is a major accomplishment by any standard. But imagine starting a business in a country where you didn’t know the language well and you had no money or family.
That describes the accomplishment of Margaret Fratila, who opened Margaret's Greenhouse & European Floral Designs in Corpus Christi three decades ago.
In 1982, Fratila defected from communist Romania. After briefly traveling the eastern part of the United States, Fratila rolled into Corpus Christi on a Greyhound bus.
“When the bus drove over the [Harbor] Bridge, and I saw beautiful Corpus Christi, the sun lighting up the waters, I knew I was where God wanted me to be," she said. "I have loved it here ever since. I have been very fortunate. This city and the people have been very good to me.”
Although penniless and alone, Fratila did have one major asset: an education.
“In Romania, the focus is on education because everything is owned by the government,” Fratila said. “So, our highest asset was our education.”
As a high achiever, she was able to earn her Master of Science in horticulture before defecting. Fratila began on the path to starting her own business by first working at a greenhouse in Flour Bluff. The owner offered her a wage of $5, which Fratila initially thought meant she would be paid $5 a month.
“In Romania, $5 a month was a good wage then," she said. "I grew up with one pound of meat, one pound sugar and one pound of flour for a family of four. This was the communist way.
Singularly focused on owning her own business, Fratila started creating flower arrangements and offering greenhouse services out of her home. To market her business, she gave away free flower arrangements to a business each week to showcase her talents.
After several years and securing a steady clientele, Fratila opened her own storefront.
Opening your own business requires a strong commitment and a lot of hard work, she recalled.
“You have to be a very hard worker, and you have to know every aspect of your business,” she said. “I treat my business like I treat my children. I am thinking about it always, and I am learning something new every day.”
She also feels passionate about her product: flowers.
"The beauty and the scents cheer you up," she said. "Flowers can heal you. They give people energy.”
As a florist, Fratila meets individuals and families during the most joyous occasions and the most solemn. With her love of people and her compassionate nature, she said this is the most rewarding part of her work.
“The best part of my job is delivering the flowers I have arranged for people,” she said. “I want to meet them personally. I love to talk with people and learn about their lives.”
Now, with so many years in business, this master florist does not measure her success by her bottom line but rather by the people she has touched. She holds flower arrangement classes to share her knowledge and talents. She taught courses at Del Mar College and said several of her students actually opened their own shops.
If there is a family in need, Fratila will work with funeral homes to donate flowers to families that cannot afford an arrangement for a loved one.
In the community, Fratila is active in her church and a volunteer with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a child advocate organization. She is also very active in politics and has been to four presidential inaugurations.
She is a proud mother of a son who is a doctor in Texas and a daughter who works in business in New York. Fratila has two grandchildren who she is “madly in love with,” she says.
Ultimately, Fratila said, "You must share your knowledge and share your gifts with people. After I leave this world, I don’t want people to say that I had the best flower shop in the world or I had the most money. I want people to remember what I did for them.”
Margaret's Greenhouse & European Floral Designs
3216 Reid Drive, Suite N Corpus Christi
(361) 852-0471 (361) 851-9418
www.europeanfloraldesigns.net
